Having come from an upper-middle-class background, earned a PhD in math, and spent the past 15 months unemployed (with no definite end in sight), all I can say to this comic is “I wish”.

Note to the world: try not to graduate right before a global economic crisis; you can’t hide out in school anymore, have a pile of student debt, and have to compete with vastly more experienced recent-layoffs for any jobs that do pop up. It sucks.

Being a college dropout from a family that barely made middle class when I was finishing high school, I must strongly disagree with this. Opportunity is there for anyone with the necessary skills and determination to pursue it. I think it’s a cop-out to say that success requires family connections or a college degree; you’re making excuses for the millions of people who don’t have access to these.

I made something of myself, and I see more opportunity every day even in the midst of a serious recession.

When you think about it, the expectations of a recent college grad are bound to be too high. Everybody should start working life with a mop in their hands. The way up from there is easy, once your ego is under control.

Start working this mopping job right out of college, with thousands and thousands of dollars in school loans that the high school dropout who’s equally qualified for the same job doesn’t have to worry about… Yeah, I’ll get right on that.

This post reminds me of the book, which tends to disagree with the “academic” trend in this post. As an example, an interesting study mentioned in the book took a look at students with the highest IQs in the US (arguably, these students are in really high class standing based on academics) and how the chance of success in their careers was as good as any other student.

About

This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.